Leftovers

• Tedium ☛ All That Glitters

  I just learned an amazing fact about gold records from the Beastie Boys that you need to learn about, too.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Earth's 13-Month Record Heat Streak Is Over. So What Happens Now?

    An expert explains the bigger picture.

  • Science Alert ☛ Weird Fish Breaks Largest Animal Genome Record With 30x Our DNA

    More than twice the size of the previous record holder.

  • Science Alert ☛ Using CBD And THC During Pregnancy Could Harm Developing Brains

    Even without other cannabis compounds.

  • Science Alert ☛ Study Finds Humans Age Faster at 2 Sharp Peaks – Here's When to Expect Them

    You're in for a bumpy ride.

  • Science Alert ☛ A Vital Fluid Protects Your Most Important Organ. What Happens if It Fails?

    Warning signs to look out for.

  • Science Alert ☛ 123 Maya Glyphs Found on Huge Stone Reveal Secrets of a Lost City

    Long-hidden histories.

  • Science Alert ☛ Shocking Study Says No, Cold Isn't Making Your Joints Ache. So What's Going on?

    Wait, how?!

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Help The LEGO Camera Become A Reality

    Some time over a year ago, we told you about a camera. Not just any camera, but a fully-functional 35mm film camera made entirely of LEGO, and with a pleasingly retro design into the bargain. It’s the work of [Zung92], and it can be found on the LEGO Ideas website.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ W.H.O. Declares Mpox Outbreak in African Countries a Global Emergency

    The epidemic is concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but the virus has now appeared in a dozen other African countries.

  • New York Times ☛ Mpox Outbreak: What to Know About Symptoms and Risks

    The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency over an outbreak that has spread to more than a dozen African countries.

  • Science Alert ☛ Mpox: Disease Expert Explains Why It's Now a Global Health Emergency

    The latest developments explained.

  • France24 ☛ Sweden reports first case of new monkeypox strain outside Africa

    The World Health Organization on Thursday said a first case of mpox linked to an outbreak in Africa has been identified outside the continent after an infection was confirmed in Sweden. The news comes a day after the WHO declared mpox, also known as monkeypox, a global public health emergency.

  • Latvia ☛ Telehealth opens up new possibilities in Latvia

    Of the 9.6 million euros that medical tourists spent on medical services in Latvia in 2023, telemedicine services accounted for 1.09 million. These services benefited approximately 15,000 patients from countries including the United Kingdom, Spain, and Argentina. The sector is rapidly developing, encouraged also by support at the governmental level, reports Labs of Latvia.

  • Latvia ☛ Appeal to help young cancer patient pay for treatment

    An appeal has gone out for donations to help a young cancer patient get potentially life-saving treatment, reports Latvian Television.

  • JURIST ☛ British Columbia, Canada human rights commissioner’s report highlights systemic inequalities in province

    British Columbia’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner reported on Wednesday that inequalities are baked into the province’s justice, health and child welfare systems after taking a focused look at 10 key systems impacting human rights in the province.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Age tech is exploding. The ‘modern grandma’ market wants more than health aids.

    Age tech startups are recognizing that many older people have the means – and the tech savvy – to do everything younger generations do with digital devices.

  • Science Alert ☛ First Major Study Links Cannabis Use Disorder to Deadly Cancers

    It may not be as harmless as some think.

  • Science Alert ☛ When The Pandemic Came, Zoos Shut, And Animals Began to Act Differently

  • The Straits Times ☛ China's senior tourists could be a silver lining for travel firms

    Travel companies are betting that Chinese tourism could return to its pre-pandemic boom days if they tweak tours to avoid steep hikes, add nurses and healthcare professionals to their staff and offer discounts for the seniors they're targeting.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Dementia magazine launched as side project secures major headline sponsor

    Dementia Help is a quarterly digital magazine, website and Facebook (Farcebook) group.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Reason ☛ NFL's Facial Recognition Technology Sparks Fears of Fan Surveillance

      Personal data retained by government or private entities are always at risk of compromise, misuse, or access by law enforcement.

    • MIT Technology Review ☛ The US wants to scan the faces of migrant kids at the border

      The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to collect and analyze photos of the faces of migrant children at the border in a bid to improve facial recognition technology, MIT Technology Review can reveal.

• Defence/Aggression

  • JURIST ☛ India PM Modi used hate speech to fuel his 2024 political campaign: HRW

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made Islamophobic remarks in the majority of his speeches during the 2024 nationwide elections, according to a Wednesday report by Human Rights Watch (HRW). 

  • New York Times ☛ After Shooting, Texas State Fair Bans Guns. Republicans Want Them Back.

    The Texas State Fair, a beloved institution, has imposed a ban on firearms. The state attorney general, Ken Paxton, is threatening a lawsuit.

  • Federal News Network ☛ Sexual misconduct at Coast Guard is a fleet-wide problem, congressional probe finds

    Accounts of Coast Guard whistleblowers reveal that sexual assault and harassment "impact enlisted members and officers just as pervasively as cadets."

  • RFA ☛ South Korean president proposes official dialogue channel with North Korea

    Yoon Suk Yeol also outlined plans to expand North Koreans’ ‘right of access to information.’

  • RFA ☛ In Senegal, a rare look inside an abandoned North Korean Embassy

    Pyongyang closed 7 embassies last year. RFA Korean got a surprise tour of one.

  • New York Times ☛ America Can’t Produce the Weapons It Needs for the Future. This Could Help.

    The United States, Australia and Britain are making it easier to share defense technology, hoping to spur the innovations needed to keep up with China.

  • RFA ☛ China top diplomat meets Myanmar leader, junta denies coup rumors

    Wang Yi calls for stability in Myanmar as conflict deepens and speculation rises over Min Aung Hlaing’s future.

  • RFA ☛ Myanmar’s old army leader calls on China to help restore stability

    China’s foreign minister expressed displeasure at Myanmar's battles, promised election help.

  • RFA ☛ INTERVIEW: ‘I will never kowtow to them and never compromise’

    Hong Kong movie director Kiwi Chow on keeping going despite the ‘darkness’ of the political crackdown.

  • RFA ☛ Activists vow to fight China's bid for new 'super embassy' in London

    The new proposal 'means more spies, more infiltration, more intimidation, more harassment,' activist says.

  • JURIST ☛ Former Bangladesh PM calls for investigation into deadly protest violence

    Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, through a statement posted by her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy on the social control media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, called for an investigation into the killings that occurred during weeks of protests in Bangladesh.

  • The Strategist ☛ Australia must pick a ministerial lane for counter-terrorism responsibility

    Which cabinet minister has responsibility for counter-terrorism in Australia? Our national security dictates that it shouldn’t be a difficult question given, to misquote Mark Twain, reports of terrorism’s demise have been revealed as exaggerated.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Red lines and reconciliation: Turkey and Syria’s diplomatic gamble

    The ongoing situation in Syria presents risks for Turkish security, prompting a search for viable solutions to its multifaceted challenges.

  • Defence Web ☛ Sudan’s army has been battling to keep Darfur’s El Fasher from paramilitary forces – why the city’s so important

    The ongoing conflict in Sudan between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces is complex. It’s rooted in weak state institutions, ethnic diversity and historical grievances.

  • Defence Web ☛ Angola’s crackdown on protesters could fuel separatist violence

    On 30 July, an Angolan court sentenced 198 people – men, women and the elderly – to four to eight years in jail for various crimes including criminal association, rioting, rebellion and damage to public property.

  • Security Week ☛ Google Disrupts Iranian [Cracking] Activity Targeting US Presidential Election

    Google says it blocked Iranian APT42 hackers from accessing the personal email accounts of individuals affiliated with the US elections.

  • Security Week ☛ Google Confirms an Iranian Group Is Trying to Access Emails Linked to Both US Presidential Campaigns

    Google said an Iranian hacking group has tried to infiltrate the personal email accounts of roughly a dozen people linked to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump since May.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • CS Monitor ☛ Kremlin shocked, but undeterred, by Ukraine’s Kursk incursion

      Ukraine’s attack on Kursk was a surprise to Russia. But whether the shock will actually change Russian perceptions of the war seems doubtful.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine’s Incursion Into Kursk Region of Russia Flips the Script on Putin

      The reality of 130,000 displaced Russians and a chaotic official response may begin to puncture the official line that Russia is steadily heading toward victory.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian youths interviewed for Belarusian propaganda

      The detention of four Latvian youths in Belarus is yet another reminder that traveling to Belarus and Russia can lead to serious trouble, officials have said. The young people have now been released and returned to Latvia, but before that they had to give interviews to a Belarusian propaganda media outlet, Latvian Television reports August 14.

    • Latvia ☛ Liepāja rallies against paid parking

      The residents of Liepāja have collected the necessary amount of signatures in an initiative against paid parking in the city within 24 hours. Now the City Council will have to consider it in accordance with the law, the Russian-language service of LSM+ reports on August 15.

    • Security Week ☛ Russian Sentenced to Prison in US for Selling Stolen Information

      Georgy Kavzharadze was sentenced to prison in the US for selling stolen financial, login, and personal information on an online cybercriminal marketplace.

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Russian state-sponsored phishing campaign targets Western NGOs and diplomats

      A Russian state-sponsored spear phishing campaign has been found to be targeting Western and Russian civil society targets, including nongovernmental organizations, independent media and at least one former U.S. ambassador.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Tu-22M3 Bomber Crashes In Siberia

      A Russian Tu-22M3 bomber crashed in the Irkutsk region in Siberia, Russian state media reported on August 15, citing the Defense Ministry.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Convicted Of Failing To Report Anti-War Arson Plot

      A court in the Far Eastern Russian city of Magadan has sentenced an unidentified local man to six months in prison after convicting him of failing to report another local’s intention to carry out an arson attack against a military recruitment office.

    • RFERL ☛ U.S. Citizen Ordered To 2-Month Pretrial Detention By Russian Court

      A Moscow court has placed U.S. citizen Joseph Tater in pretrial detention until October 14, extending his original 15-day sentence on charges of petty hooliganism.

    • LRT ☛ Belarusian exiles in Vilnius fight off KGB infiltration, recruitment attempts

      LRT.lt spoke to five sources active in the Belarusian political exile community in Vilnius to understand the ramifications of defections and the ongoing threat of KGB infiltrations. All of them spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the threat to themselves, their colleagues or family members.

    • Meduza ☛ ‘A crime against their own people’: A Sudzha resident on how the Russian authorities stood by silently as civilians fled the Ukrainian advance — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Shifting the war to Russia’s territory Top Zelensky advisor Mykhailo Podolyak on the political goals of Ukraine’s ongoing incursion into the Kursk region — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Friday Briefing: Ukraine Takes a Russian Town

      Plus, with one room, Brazil confronts its racist past.

    • New York Times ☛ Russia Sentences U.S. Citizen to 12 Years in Prison on Treason Charges

      Ksenia Karelina is accused of donating $52 to a New York-based nonprofit that sends assistance to Ukraine.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine Claims to Capture Sudzha, Zelensky Says

      The fall of Sudzha, about six miles from the border, would be Ukraine’s first capture of a Russian town since its troops crossed into Russian territory 10 days ago.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine’s Incursion Into Russia Reveals a Dramatic Shift

      The offensive was developed in secret, devised to divert Russian troops away from the front lines in Ukraine and seize territory to use as a bargaining chip.

    • CS Monitor ☛ How far will Ukraine’s allies let it go against Russia?

      Ukraine’s snap invasion of Russia could change the course of the war. But much will depend on the restrictions allies put on their weapons’ use.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Why Russians want YouTube back

      A ban on the highly popular video site evokes outcry, revealing a desire for sources of truth about the Ukraine war along with other services found on YouTube – and in free societies.

    • CS Monitor ☛ In Ukraine, this firefighter and all-round rescuer seeks to provide hope

      To save people and property, firefighters take risks, earning recognition as heroes. In eastern Ukraine’s war zone, firefighter Ivan Subotin, founder of a rescue organization, is motivated, he says, to restore people’s faith in the future.

    • RFERL ☛ Ukraine Claims Full Control Of Sudzha, Sets Up Military Command

      Ukrainian forces have taken full control of the Russian town of Sudzha in the Kursk region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on August 15, adding that the Ukrainian military is setting up a command office there.

    • RFERL ☛ Dual U.S.-Russian Citizen Sentenced To 12 Years For Treason In Yekaterinburg

      A Russian court has sentenced dual U.S.-Russian citizen Ksenia Karelina to 12 years in prison after convicting her of treason for transferring $51 to a Ukrainian aid group in early 2022.

    • RFERL ☛ EU Criticizes Claims of Intelligence Cooperation Between Belgrade and Moscow

      The European Union has told Serbia that maintaining ties with Russia during its war of aggression against Ukraine is not compatible with EU values and the accession process.

    • JURIST ☛ Russian American sentenced with treason for financing Ukraine charity

      Russian-American dual citizen Ksenia Karelina was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony and fined three hundred thousand rubles ($3,400) in a closed session of the Sverdlovsk Regional Court.  Karelina was arrested on January 27 2024, and detained in a Yekaterinburg jail under Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code which covers treason.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine controls 82 Russian settlements, opens administrative office in occupied Kursk

      Ukraine has set up an administrative office in occupied areas of the Russian border region of Kursk, army chief Oleksandr Syrsky said Thursday, adding that Ukraine now controls 82 Russian settlements including Sudzha, a town 8 kilometres from the border. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.

    • France24 ☛ US-Russian citizen sentenced to 12 years for $52 donation to Ukrainian charity

      A Russian court on Thursday sentenced US-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina to 12 years in prison on charges of “treason” for wiring a $51.80 donation to a charity supporting Ukraine. Criticising the verdict as “nothing less than just a vindictive cruelty”, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters the charges were “absolutely ludicrous”.

    • France24 ☛ Kursk incursion: Ukrainian General Oleksandr Syrsky shifts the focus of the war

      Born and educated largely in Russia, Ukraine's top military commander is now leading an unprecedented incursion into Russian territory, catching opposing troops off-guard and shifting the momentum of the war.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Russian-Iranian military cooperation: How much can they depend on each other?

      While the expansion of Russian-Iranian military cooperation might have already been in the works, these setbacks that Moscow and Tehran have experienced at the hands of US-backed Ukraine and Israel may only serve to increase it.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ The Kremlin is cutting Russia’s last information ties to the outside world

      Recent measures to prevent Russians from accessing YouTube represent the latest escalation in the Kremlin’s campaign to dominate the domestic information space and eliminate all independent media in today’s Russia, writes Mercedes Sapuppo.

    • Latvia ☛ Ukrainian investigators believe Russia sourced electronics via Baltic states

      Last year, microelectronics supplied to Russia through the Baltic States reached several companies engaged in the production of weapons, the Ukrainian public organization NAKO – which analyzes the composition of Russian weapons shot down and captured in Ukraine – claims in an interview with Latvian Radio.

    • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea’s Kim and Russia’s Putin vow deeper ties on Korean liberation day

      The message marked an anniversary of independence from Japan's colonial rule.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Ukraine’s invasion of Russia exposes the folly of the West’s escalation fears

      Ukraine's invasion of Russia has shown that Putin’s talk of red lines and his nuclear threats are just a bluff to intimidate the West, writes Oleksiy Goncharenko.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Ukraine’s Kursk offensive marks Putin’s third major humiliation of the war

      Ukrainian forces’ recent incursion into Kursk Oblast in Russia came as a shock and instantaneously transformed the narrative of the war.

    • Meduza ☛ ‘They’re trying to cover it up’ Russia’s Investigative Committee refuses to open criminal investigation into Navalny’s death, says widow Yulia Navalnaya — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Yulia Navalnaya Disputes Russian Report on Cause of Husband’s Death

      The Russian authorities said Aleksei A. Navalny had died of a grab bag of diseases, including heart arrhythmia triggered by hypertension.

    • RFERL ☛ Navalny's Widow Scorns Official Document Describing Opposition Leader's Cause Of Death

      Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, said on August 15 that the Russian authorities had offered no convincing explanation for his death in a penal colony six months ago.

• Environment

  • New York Times ☛ 5.4-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Near Taiwan

    There were no immediate reports of major damage, but the island’s fire department warned of the risk of landslides in mountainous areas.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Straits Times ☛ Severe typhoon Ampil approaching Japan disrupts flights, trains

      The government issued a warning against possible landslides and flooding.

    • H2 View ☛ HVS targets global markets in hydrogen truck deal with Hybot

      Hydrogen Vehicle Systems (HVS) will potentially import its products into China and other international markets after agreeing on a deal with Guangzhou Hybot Technology.

    • Hackaday ☛ Austraila’s Controlled Loads Are In Hot Water

      Australian grids have long run a two-tiered pricing scheme for electricity. In many jurisdictions, regular electricity was charged at a certain rate. Meanwhile, you could get cheaper electricity for certain applications if your home was set up with a “controlled load.” Typically, this involved high energy equipment like pool heaters or hot water heaters.

    • Hackaday ☛ Open Source Residential Energy Storage

      Battery news typically covers the latest, greatest laboratory or industry breakthroughs to push modern devices further and faster. Could you build your own flow battery stationary storage for home-built solar and wind rigs though?

• Finance

  • Bryan Lunduke ☛ New Downsizing from Dell, defective chip maker Intel Push 2024 Tech Layoffs Over 150,000

    Layoffs for 2024 will soon be larger than for all of 2022... far larger than the "Dot Com Bubble" burst.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong finance chief urges banks to boost help for small businesses as 74% expect cashflow to be key challenge

    Hong Kong’s finance chief Paul Chan has urged big banks to do more to help small businesses, as a survey found that 74 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) see cashflow as the biggest challenge in the year ahead.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • New York Times ☛ Biden and Harris Made a Joint Appearance

    Also, Ukraine said it had captured a Russian town. Here’s the latest at the end of Thursday.

  • New York Times ☛ Harris Gonna Code Switch

    It’s normal for people, especially Black Americans, to dip into colloquial speech depending on whom they’re talking to.

  • Reason ☛ César Báez and Daniel Di Martino: What Happened in Venezuela's Election?

    Two Venezuelan immigrants explain the current political unrest in the country.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • New York Times ☛ San Francisco Moves to Lead Fight Against Deepfake Nudes

      City Attorney David Chiu has filed a lawsuit seeking to permanently shutter 16 popular websites that turn images of real girls and women into pornography.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Off Guardian ☛ Stabbings to Show Trials: 9 Simple Steps to Criminalize Free Speech

    In the wake of the Southport attack and ensuing riots, we wrote that the agenda had become clear – it was about attacking free speech.

  • Reason ☛ European and American Censors Want War With Elon Musk

    Beware the Thierry Bretons of the world.

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ US colleges revise rules on free speech in hopes of containing anti-war demonstrations

    While the summer break provided a respite in student demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war, it also gave both student protesters and higher education officials a chance to regroup and strategize for the fall semester.

  • Reason ☛ Lawsuit Over Tweet Urging University to Fire Professor for Alleged "Racism, Sexism, and Transphobia" Can Go Forward

    From Judge Jeffrey Schmehl's decision in Manco v. St. Joseph's University (E.D. Pa.): On February 25, 2021, Loue tweeted at SJU  as follows: "but are you gonna fire Greg Manco who has done nothing but contribute to a hostile learning environment with his racism, sexism, and transphobia??????"

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Jimmy Lai appeal judge, UK’s David Neuberger, withdraws from media freedom NGO’s advisory panel

    A UK judge who was among a panel who denied media tycoon Jimmy Lai and six other democrats an appeal over a 2019 protest on Monday has withdrawn from his position on an advisory board to an international press freedom NGO.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ UK NGO Prisoners Abroad stands by trustee judge David Neuberger amid pressure over Jimmy Lai appeal ruling

    A UK charity that advocates for British nationals imprisoned overseas has rejected pressure to oust British judge David Neuberger as a trustee over his role in rejecting an appeal by media tycoon Jimmy Lai.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • Bryan Lunduke ☛ Netflix managers "will not hire this white guy because we have too many white people"

    Prominent YouTuber, ThePrimeagen, shares story of multiple DRM spreader Netflix managers discriminating based on skin color.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong police superintendent accused of molesting colleague was like ‘tribal chief,’ court hears

    A Hong Kong police superintendent on trial for allegedly molesting a female colleague three times in a public toilet two years ago was a powerful figure akin to a “tribal chief,” a court has heard. Luk Chun-chung, 43, is on trial in the District Court on three counts of indecent assault.

  • RFA ☛ Vietnamese activist found guilty of anti-state propaganda

    YouTuber Nguyen Chi Tuyen was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

  • Reason ☛ Public Access to FAA Hearings on Alleged Passenger Misconduct

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icHjzTUN8hI A fine imposed on a passenger for allegedly hitting a flight attendant—the passenger says he was woken up by a cart hitting him, and accidentally swung his arm as a result—has led to a First Amendment controversy.

  • Bryan Lunduke ☛ Netflix managers "will not hire this white guy because we have too many white people"

    Now, obviously, this is merely one statement from a former employee... but it is an incredibly prominent former employee. And Netflix has made it very public (such as in their regular "Inclusion Reports") that hiring fewer White people is a specific, official goal of the company.

    Likewise, we've seen many other Tech companies with similar "hire fewer White people" goals -- including both IBM and Red Hat (see The Red Hat / IBM Leaks).

    Add those things together, and this story from ThePrimeagen becomes very believable.

  • Public Knowledge ☛ The Road to Digital Discrimination Is Paved With Good Intentions: Why Universal Service Depends Upon a Disparate Impact Standard

    Removing the disparate impact standard from the FCC's digital discrimination rules would only worsen the digital divide.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ The D(M)ARC side of the email reporting system

    Guest Post: What's hidden behind the numbers?

  • MWL ☛ Ebook of “Run Your Own Mail Server” off to early backers

    If you preordered Run Your Own Mail Server, backed the Kickstarter, sponsored the book, or get my books as a Patronizer, you should have got a note or a post about your copy of the ebook.

  • MWL ☛ 57: I Play the Heavy

    I’m prepping to write a new edition of Networking for Systems Administrators. Here’s a bit from the beginning where I’m talking to network administrators. I skip many traditional networking topics because they’re not absolutely essential. SNMP, or the Simple Network Management Protocol, is one example. I filled a book this size discussing SNMP.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• FTC v. Amazon: Why a Properly Defined Market Is Important in Antitrust Analysis

  In the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) monopolization lawsuit against Amazon [...]

• The Decision in Google’s Monopolization Case May Benefit Competitors More Than Consumers

  In a court decision last week between Surveillance Giant Google and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Judge Amit Mehta concluded that Surveillance Giant Google violated U.S. antitrust laws by entering into distribution agreements that established Surveillance Giant Google as the default search engine for third-party web browsers and mobile devices. Although the heart of the decision rested on the purported anticompetitive effects of these contractual agreements, an actual analysis of resulting consumer harm appears to be lacking.

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Policy Considerations: The On-Sale Bar for Secret Processes

    In light of the Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Celanese v. ITC, it’s worth examining the policy implications of maintaining a strong on-sale bar that extends even to invalidate patents on secret processes when the resulting products have been commercialized. This rule is rooted in pre-AIA jurisprudence and is now affirmed under the AIA.

    1. Early Public Disclosure vs. Trade Secret Retention

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • JUVE ☛ Alexander Ramsay: “The new CMS will be independent of the EPO” [Ed: Alexander Ramsay put himself in charge of an illegal fake court system in collusion with the corrupt EPO; this is very serious crime at the very heart of Europe and there is no independence here]

      JUVE Patent: The Unified Patent Court has announced it will cooperate with the European Patent Office for the development of a new case management system.

  • Software Patents

    • Unified Patents ☛ iCharts multimedia patent monopoly prior art found

      Unified is pleased to announce prior art has been found on U.S. Patent 8,271,892, owned by iCharts, LLC, an NPE. The ‘892 patent monopoly generally relates to generating and sharing interactive charts. The interactive charts are generated in an online portal that allows users to share, customize the interactive features of the chart, and includes an interactive audio feature. The ‘892 patent monopoly has been asserted against Tableau.

      We would also like to thank the dozens of other high-quality submissions that were made on this patent.

    • Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 for Big Will messaging patent monopoly prior art

      Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest, with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on claim 1 of U.S. Patent 10,521,846, owned and asserted by Big Will Enterprises Inc., an NPE. The ‘846 patent monopoly relates to electronic messaging technologies, and more particularly, to systems, methods, and apparatus for accurately identifying a mobile thing (MT) and/or a motion activity associated with the MT using sensor data.

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Four Years After Buying Barry Manilow’s Catalog, Hipgnosis Is Suing Over a Bonus Payments Dispute

    Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF) has exited the London Stock Exchange, but its story isn’t over yet. The IP-acquisition company is reportedly spearheading a multimillion-dollar complaint against Barry Manilow over bonus payments. That High Court legal action came to light via a docket update as well as reports from outlets including the Financial Times.

  • France24 ☛ Internet mogul Kim Dotcom to be extradited from New Zealand to US

    Kim Dotcom, the founder of the now-defunct filesharing site Megaupload, will be extradited from New Zealand to the United States, New Zealand's justice minister said. The decision could bring an end to more than a decade of legal battles. German-born Dotcom moved to New Zealand in 2010 and has faced potential extradition since his 2012 arrest. The US Justice Department charged him with criminal copyright monopoly infringement, money laundering, racketeering, and wire fraud.

  • More Local News Caught in Flood of Unrelated Copyright Takedown Requests

    A set of over 60,00 notuces in Lumen's database, ostensibly targeting Turkish escort sites, inadvertently sweep up local news URLs.